The Autobiography Of An Alien

Chapter 10 - Alliance, part 4

Draft #47 - The Library

I have heard about a great library on planet Earth, lost to the forces of time. It had been a great collection of knowledge, I was informed, and perhaps humanity would have been further along in their advancements had their Alexandria lived. 

There is a library in the Core, squirreled away in the deepest recesses of the fortress. It holds many tomes and scrolls of every planet in the Alliance and then some. It is a great amalgamation of knowledge.

To lose it, just like the humans had lost the Library of Alexandria, would be calamitous.

***

Surprisingly, it was rather easy to find where Porrafka had gone off to. It had the added benefit of finding the whereabouts of Shul, as well. 

"...tell me about Kohgrash?" Porrafka hissed to Shul, claws curled around the other's arm. A fissure of alarm shot through Rulshkka. 

Shul's back was to Rulshkka, but his shoulders were stiff and unhappy. Rulshkka quickly ducked out of sight, wondering if his life's purpose was to hide around corners and listen to his staff talk. 

"Lord Kohgrash is a respected member of Vokkra's household. Do you know nothing of what has happened on our home planet, Porrafka?" Shul hissed. There was a slight scuffle where Rulshkka imagined he had taken his arm back. 

"Obviously not," Porrafka growled, voice going slightly sad. "My hatchmate has died." 

"And the world's better off for it," Shul growled back, snapping his teeth. "He had tried harming Sir Rukka's spawn. And a whole mess of other things." 

Porrafka was silent for a while. Then, "Did he suffer?" 

"Spirits, I hope so," Shul snorted. Rulshkka's mouth twisted into a bitter, vindictive smile. In his opinion, the perpetrators hadn't suffered enough. 

"I thought mammals were pets. That they were nothing more than stupid animals. Nhafka told me that the Cords were rumored to use them-" 

"Nhafka was a part of the Cords. Or didn't he tell you that?" Shul returned icily. "Mammals were pets for a while. Vokkra had gotten one. Kohgrash." 

"Is that really his name, Shul? I mean, he doesn't look like someone who'd..." Porrafka trailed off. 

Rulshkka had thought about changing Kohgrash's name when he had gotten him, but the little human had already latched onto it, responding to it and only it. 

"I have watched Kohgrash fight off Ghhorrah for the Vokkra, Porrafka. He is not someone to underestimate," Shul replied, voice a little gentler. "Your brother captured him instead of Sir Rukka's spawn, and the Vokkra put him in front of the Mirror for it. I heard that the Mirror liquified him from the inside out while breaking every bone in his body. That it lasted for hours."

"Spirits..." Porrafka whispered voice struck with grief and awe at the same time. 

"So I suggest," Shul stressed, "that you do nothing to harm Kohgrash. Vokkra will make the Mirror's punishment look like a nursery rhyme."

Shuffling, and Shul appeared from around the corner, looking unsurprised to see him. Rulshkka tried not to look like he had been hiding. The guard bowed slightly at the waist, ever silent in his presence. 

"Hello, Shul," Rulshkka said as if he hadn't eavesdropped on their entire conversation. "Have you happened to see Porrafka around?" 

"Yes, Your Highness," Shul replied, gesturing to the hallway he had stepped from. He peered behind Rulshkka, frowning slightly as he noticed that he was alone. "Where is Lord Kohgrash, sire?"